Device for sorting and orienting blanks having portions of different transverse dimensions



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A HTTORHESJW Dec. 23, 1947. F. B. DAvls 2,433,096

DEVICE FOR SORTING AND ORIENTING BLANKS HAVING PORTIONS OF DIFFERENT TRANSVERSE DIMEISIONS 5 Sheets-Sheet Ell- Filed Feb. 25, 1945 MEME F. B. DAVIS G AND ORIENTING` BL ANKS HAVING svERsE DIMENSIONS Dec. 23, 1947.

DEVICE FOR SORTIN PORTIONS OF DIFFERENT TRAN Filed Feb. 23, 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

Jawa ,Fwytfng am HTTORNEMS Patented Dec. 23, 1947 UNITED viffiiilezNT ortica DEVICE FOR y'SOR'IING AND ORIENTING BLANKS 'HAVING PORTIONS 0F DIFFER- This iiiventionrelates to a :sorting device :adapt ed feed shouldered studs, shouldered blanks and the like finto `a tube :or chute so that they will emerge from the tube in a definite position :as regards the large Yend .and the small end.

1 have designed this sorting device .for ilse with roll thread dies but `it 4may have use in .connection with `other type `onf machines, this device operating in a `manner such that the blanks will be presented `always in the desired position to the roll thread dies or other equipment.

One of the objects of the invention to have the blanks `feed automatically in proper ,position With 'the large eind' dQWn, in which case the large end .of the blank Will be automatically presented to 'the roll thread dies so as 'to have 'the thread rolled on the larger diameter.

Another objet of the .invention is to have the blanks fed `autornati,cally in proper position with the small `er1-cl down, when itis desired that the blanks be 4presented to the roll thread Adies :so as to thread the smaller `ends of the blanks.

The invention may be .further brieily summarized as consisting in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements el parts which will be described in the specification andset forth in the appended Claim-s.

yIn .the accompanying sheets of drawings illus trating lrny invention,

Eig. 1 is a vfront view of :my improved'sorting device, aportion only of the machine which operatesonthe blanks being shown, this View show,- ing the .spring stri-ps arranged .for feeding Athe blanks with the large end down.;

Eig. 2 isa side View 'of -t-he same;

Fig. 3 Vis a fragmentary sectional View on an enlarged scale -as viewed in Fig. k1 showing the device adjusted for the purpose of feeding the blanks from the revolving ring in the hopper with the large end down;

Fig. 4 is -a fragmentary sectional View on an enlarged .scale of the construction shown in Fig. 3, ie., the arrangement wherein the blanks are fed` with the large end down, this section being taken substantially along .the rline 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. I'5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing an arrangement wherein theblanks are fed to the tube or chute with the small vend down; and

rFig. 6 is a, View similar to Fig. 4 of the arrangement shown in Fig. 5.

As will be seen 'by reference particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, 'the sorting .device is secured to a bracket I which, in turn, is secured to the `upper part'offthethread'rolling machine or other equipment to "which the sorting device is applied. The

sorting device includes a stationary yhopper il which fis mounted in an inclined positinn as shown. At the 4center of .the hopper fil is a stationary portion i2 from which extends 'a projection I3 to be referred to presently. Mounted liorrotaztion between Vrthe periphery voi -the hopper and the stationary central .portion l2 'is :a rotary ring if# which 4is driven at the :desired speed by an electric motor il 5 with suitable reduction .gearing and the casing therefor indi-cated as a Whole by the reference character t5, the part l5 including not only reduction gearing but the :rotation trans. mitting shafts. In Figs. 4 and i6 .I .have shown at -I-Aa. neair 'the .inner periphery of the ring iat., the lgear which is engaged by the driving pinion, not 'sho-Wn. The lrotary ring td has aV series ci radially disposed grooves 1.1 :of ya depth slightly less than lthe `maxiniurn diameter o'f ythe blanks to be handled in the device. .A quantity lioff the blanks are `dumped into the hopper and, to insure their deposit 'in the .grooves il., I provide yon the upper face oif :the rotary ring t4, near .its outer periphery, asuitable Vnumber onf-angles il 8 with npstanding anges. These angles are in this in4 stance arranged yadjacent each 'alternate :groot/,e l-l, .so as to agitato the blanks which .lie in vthe lower part of -thefhopper and cause them .to enter the :grooves `l 1.

There is secured to the stationary protection i3 a tube lor chute, which in Figs. 2 and 4 is desig mated i9. lt will be noted, particularly lby vrefs erence to Figs, 2 and 4, that the tube t9 'of somewhat less inclination than -the hopper. This tube 'I 9 is of a diametersu'ch 'that the .blanks may pass through .the same, The upper lend 4'oi the tube i9 terminates slightly inwardly of the inner periphery of the rotary vring i4 and 'the upper end of the tube has its upper portion out away at 20 and is somewhat flattened, as shown iat Zil by `the dotted `lines of Fig. 3. The lower end :of the tube I9 has secured to it :a continuation in the form of a spring coil 2.2 which extendsdovm wardly to the point where the Iblanks yare to be deliveredone at aftirne to the machine Vwith this `sorti-ng dev-ice Tis 1used, such as the `thread rolling machine.

Coming now to the parts involving my inverttion, it will `be seen that -I secure to fthe stationary projection i3 either asingle spring plate `or preterably t-wo spring plates 23 and 23a which extend from the projection I3 upwardly and `overlap slightly the `rotary ring i4. The :two `spring plates are preferred because they provide greater iiexibility than a single plate. rIhe upper ends of :these spring plates are slightly cur-ved iupwardly, as shown at 24, in Fig. 4, and the upper corner of the spring 23, which the blanks rst engage, is slightly bent upwardly, as shown at 25. The upper edges of the plates 23 and 23a are in substantial horizontal alignment, as best shown in Fig. 3.

The blanks on which the threads are to be rolled are designated 25. These blanks each have at one end a portion 25a of enlarged diameter and, at the opposite end, a portion 25h of relatively smaller diameter. Both ends of the blanks are preferably tapered. The shape of the blank is clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The blanks in the grooves I1 of the rotating ring I4 may obviously have their large ends 26a up or down. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the blanks having their large ends down pass through the tube I9, and those having their large ends up are rejected and again fall back into the hopper. A ledge 21 is provided on the annular stationary part I2 of the hopper adjacent the inner periphery of the rotating ring I4 and as the blanks approach the spring plates 23 and 23a they drop down so that their inner ends ride along the upper edge of the ledge 21. The blanks having their large ends down ride under the spring 23 until they reach the upper end of the tube and they fall into the tube and pass down the same and through the coil 22, but the blanks having their large ends up cannot pass down the tube I9 because the shoulder formed at the inner end of the enlarged portion 26a rides along the upper edges of the plates 23 and 23a and after passing the plate 23a they drop back into the hopper. This is illustrated at 26o in Fig. 3. In this manner only the blanks having their large ends down pass into the tube I9, and all of the blanks having their large ends up are rejected and fall back into the hopper. In Figs. and 6 I have shown an arrangement wherein the blanks pass into the tube with their small ends down, and the blanks having their large ends down are rejected and drop back into the hopper before they reach the end of the tube, which is here designated 28. This tube 28 is quite similar to the tube shown in Figs. 1 to 4 except that the upper end of the tube is somewhat curved just beneath the inner periphery of the rotating ring I4, as shown at 29. In this instance there is secured to the top of the stationary projection I3 a single spring plate 30 which extends upwardly beyond the inner periphery of the rotary ring I4, but two plates may be employed if desired. This ,plate 3U is split for a distance from its outer end as shown at 3| in Fig. 5, forming at its outer end two sections 30a and Bb. The portion 33h extends upwardly beyond the section 30a and at its upper end is curved downwardly to or substantially to the rotary ring I4. The upper end of the section 30a is bent inwardly and lies on a lower plane than the body portion of the section 30h.

It was above stated in connection with the form of the invention first described that the blanks pass downwardly and ride along a ledge 21 secured to the stationary part I2 of the hopper adjacent the inner periphery of the rotary ring I4. With the construction now beng described a portion of the ledge is cut away, as shown at 21a in Fig. 5, the cut-away portion being at the left-hand side of the curved and partly flattened portion 29 of the tube 28. As the blanks pass over the spring sections 30a and 38h, if the blanks have their large ends up they will be held in the grooves by the depressed portion of the spring 4 section 30a and will be carried over the cut-away portion 21a of the ledge 21, since the depressed part of the spring section 30a engages the larger end 26a of the blank 26 until it passes beyond the division between the sections 30a and 30h of the spring 3U, but when the large end of the blank leaves the spring section 30a the blank is released and passes from the groove and drops into the vtube 28. It will be noted at this point that the split between the sections 36a and 30h is inclined so that the section Sb extends over the slot when in alignment with the tube and, accordingly, when the blank reaches the section 30D it is no longer held in the groove but may pass from the groove into the tube. If, however, the blank in the slot, as it approaches the section 30a of the spring 3l), has its small end up and its large end down the smaller end will not be engaged by the y depressed portion of the section 30a of the spring and accordingly when the blank reaches the cutaway portion 21a of the ledge 21 and before it ls in alignment with the end of the tube, it will pass through this cut-away portion and will drop back into the hopper.

Thus it will be seen that if the blanks in the grooves I1 of the construction illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 have the desired smaller diameter ends pointed downward they will be held by the section 30a of the spring plate until they reach the tube 28 and will then drop into the tube, but if they have their large ends down they will not be held by the depressed portion of the spring 30a but will drop back into the hopper before reaching the tube. It will be noted that the split between the sections'ella and 30h of the spring plate 3U is cut on a diagonal line which overlaps the groove I1 of the rotary ring I4 when it is in alignment with the tube 28, so that the blanks having the large ends up are no longer held in the groove by the depressed portion of the section 30a of the spring plate 3B when they pass from beneath the section 39a to the section 35h but are then free to drop down into the tube 28.

It will be notedthat in the construction shown in Fig. 3, as well as the construction shown in Fig. 5, the upper portion of the spring plate 23a of Fig. 3 and the upper portion of the spring section 38h of the spring plate 30 shown in Fig. 5, is extended laterally a distance beyond the groove I1 of the rotary ring I4 when the groove is in alignment with the tube I9 of Fig, 3 or the tube 28 of Fig. 5. This extension is provided so that, in case there are two of the blanks 26 in a groove, one above the other, the extension will insure the upper blank being carried far enough so that it will pass well beyond the tube I9 or the tube 28 and will be returned to the hopper without intertering with the lower blank passing into the tube.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a sorting device wherein the spring plate or plates keep the improperly positioned blank from passing down the chute and prevents the feeding of more than one blank into the chute from any one of the feed grooves. In the rst instance the spring plates allow only the blanks with the large end down to pass into the tube and, in the second instance, they allow only the blanks with the small end down to pass into the tube so that, in each instance, only the blanks in the desired position pass to the thread rolling dies or other machine to which the sorting device is applied.

While my improved sorting device has been illustrated and described herein in considerable detail, I do not desire to be confined to the precise details shown but aim in my claims to cover all modications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a sorting device, a stationary hopper into which shouldered blanks each having a large end and a small end are adapted to be dumped, a. rotary ring mounted in the hopper and provided with substantially radial grooves adapted to pick up the blanks and to convey them to the sorting point, a tube having its upper end adjacent the inner periphery of the rotary ring, and a substantially flat spring plate extending upwardly a predetermined distance beyond the tube and into overlying facetoface relation to said ring, said plate allowing the blanks with the large end down to enter the tube and having an upper edge disposed relative to said ring so as to engage under the shoulder formed by the larger end when the large end is up so that the rotary ring will carry the last mentioned blanks past the tube and permit them to fall back into the hopper.

2. 'In a sorting device, la stationary hopper into which shouldered blanks each having a large end and a small end are adapted to be dumped, a rotary ring mounted in the hopper and provided with substantially radial grooves 'adapted to pick up the blanks and to convey them to the sorting point, a tube having its upper end adjacent the inner periphery of the rotary ring, and a substantially nat spring plate extending upwardly a predetermined distance beyond the tube and into overlying face-to-face relation to said ring, said plate having means disposed relative t said ring such that the blanks in the grooves having their large ends up will be pressed by the plate against the rotary ring and carried to the tube so as to drop therein, and so that the blanks having their large ends down and their smaller ends up will be released by the plate and will drop back into the hopper in advance of the tube.

3. In a sorting device, a stationary hopper adapted to contain a quantity of elongated blanks having shouldered portions of relatively large and relatively small transverse dimensions, a ring mounted for rotation in said hopper in a plane which is inclined to the horizontal and having substantially radially extending grooves therein adapted to pick up blanks and convey them to a sorting point, said grooves having a depth which is somewhat less than the relatively large transverse dimension of said blanks, a delivery tube extending downwardly from said hopper and having its upper end at said sorting point and disposed adjacent the inner periphery of said ring for register with said grooves in succession as they traverse said sorting point, and a substantially flat spring plate mounted in said hopper over said tube and having a control portion extending beyond said upper end of the tube and into overlying relation to said ring, said control portion being disposed in face-to-face relation to and closely adjacent to the surface of said ring so as to engage the relatively large portions only of the blanks `for preventing the movement into said tube of those blanks which do not occupy a desired position in the grooves.

FRANK B. DAVIS. REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,025,273 Dellaree Dec. 24, 1935 2,060,182 Dellaree Nov. 10, 1936 1,340,432 Benjamin May 18J 1920 1,700,217 Ernst Jan. 29, 1929 

